Friedrich Otto Hörsing (18 July 1874 – 16 August 1937) was a German

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician who served as chairman of the ''

Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold The (, , simply in short) was an organization in Weimar Republic, Germany during the Weimar Republic with the goal to defend German parliamentary democracy against internal subversion and extremism from the left and right and to compel the ...

'' from its foundation in 1924 until 1931. He also served as a member of the Reichstag (German parliament) from 1919 to 1922, and the

Landtag of Prussia The Landtag of Prussia () was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameralism, bicameral legislature consisting of the upper Prussian House of Lords, House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower Prussian ...

from 1925 to 1933.

Biography

Hörsing was born in Groß Schilleningken near Memel,

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

(today Šilininkai,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

), and was trained to work as a blacksmith in his youth. He joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) in 1894, became the Executive Secretary of the German Association of Metalworkers in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

in 1905 and District Secretary of the SPD in Oppeln (1906–1914). He served in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

in World War I and became a prisoner of war in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. After the war he returned to Silesia and became chairman of the

Workers' and Soldiers' Council A workers' council, also called labour council, is a type of council in a workplace or a locality made up of workers or of temporary and instantly revocable delegates elected by the workers in a locality's workplaces. In such a system of poli ...

of Upper Silesia in

Kattowitz Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

in 1919. In 1919 and 1920 Hörsing was the ''Reichs- und Staatskommissar for

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

and Posen'' and the Oberpräsident of the

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

in 1920 until 1927. He was a member of the

Weimar National Assembly The Weimar National Assembly (German: ), officially the German National Constitutional Assembly (), was the popularly elected constitutional convention and de facto parliament of Germany from 6 February 1919 to 21 May 1920. As part of it ...

(1919), the Reichstag in 1919–22 and the

Prussian Landtag The Landtag of Prussia () was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower House of Representatives (''Abgeordnetenhaus'') ...

(1924–1933). Hörsing represented the Province of Saxony in the Reichsrat in 1922–1930 and was a co-founder and the first Chairman of the

(1924–32), which he described as a 'non-partisan protection organization of the Republic and democracy in the fight against the swastika and the soviet star'. In 1932, Hörsing founded the ''Sozial-Republikanische Partei Deutschlands'' after he was expelled from the SPD and the Reichsbanner. In the Reichstag election of November 1932, this new organization received only 8,395 votes. Following the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

take over in 1933, they banned all opposition parties and discontinued Hörsing's pension benefits. He died impoverished in Berlin in 1937.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horsing, Otto 1874 births 1937 deaths People from Šilutė District Municipality Politicians from the Province of Prussia Expelled members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag 1920–1924 Provincial presidents of Saxony Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold members German Army personnel of World War I